FEBRUARY 25, 2004

Michael shows Ferrari potential

The final day of the Imola test saw Michael Schumacher throwing down the gauntlet to his rivals with a new lap record as the Ferrari driver tried out his new F2004 for the last time before the cars are shipped out to Melbourne at the end of the week. Schumacher's time of 1m19.664s was 1.2 seconds faster than that of his nearest challenger on the day, David Coulthard in his McLaren, who recorded a best lap of 1m20.928s. Juan Pablo Montoya was third with a best of 1m21.026s but it is not clear whether or not the team ran its car in qualifying trim.